February 29th, 2008 by Nils Maier
Sten Franke, director of ethority GmbH & Co KG and advisor at the Competence Center Online Market Research of the competence site, was interviewed by the competence site and questioned about the ethority approach.
On your homepage, information-seeking users like us really get our money’s worth. Nevertheless, the user has to be somewhat familiar with a specific topic because the homepage displays a lot of information. Web 2.0 is a major issue but, moreover, there are also matters such as digital identity, digital reputation and Word of Mouth Marketing.
In which ways should companies deal with Web 2.0? Or, to put it more straightforward, what exactly are you doing and how is this concerned with market research?
Sten Franke (SF):
I will try to illustrate this plainly. Everybody can take part on Web 2.0. The internet has changed. Today it is not just the companies showing a communication which is, to a greater or lesser extend, oriented towards the same direction. In the past, companies more or less merely displayed their products on the web, just like a catalogue, only online. Subsequently, one could also order these products online; it was, however, still one-way. A dialogue takes place on web 2.0. The consumers, namely the users, give statements and invite other users to an exchange of opinions. This proceeds on web platforms such as blogs and online communities. The use of public media, and thereby the purchase habits, has changed completely. Before purchasing anything, you compare your experiences gained concerning brands and products. Consumers organize themselves in communities, e.g. the German speaking BMW community, in which over 50.000 BMW owners, and thus BMW purchasers, participate. In these communities they discuss the brand, the specific models, their experiences and their expectations. These are millions of opinions, which are more or less openly displayed. Of course, you have to forage for them, analyze, cluster and evaluate them. This is our task, our way to carry out market research. You see, the ordinary market researcher records purchaser opinions by placing a handful of people in a room which is equipped with cameras and a one-way-mirror and then asks questions. This is what you would call a focus group. But is the composition of the group representative at any time? Is it possible to rule out any influence exerted by the interviewer? Are the group’s responses always honest and true or are there answers which are socially desirable? We are familiar with these concerns and we have the solution. The opinions on the web provide the largest focus group possible and we can rule out influences from the beginning. We are just observing.
You observe what happens on the internet? How does this work? Do you launch a search engine?
Sten Franke:
First of all, we work much more accurately, that is to say, more thoroughly than ordinary search engines. Although search engines are great for the average user, they can capture only parts of all websites. Within the Deep Web, which is the total of all openly accessable legal and illegal websites, less than 1% can be located by these ordinary search engines. We, however, locate 95%. ethority is using novel semantic analysis technologies, such as gridmaster. By means of a complex algorithm, we obtain a segmentation of groups and opinions and are able to process millions of these opinions within next to no time. On one occasion, the “Tagesschau“ reported on gridmaster and gave the résumé: “Gridmaster surfs the web like a human being, only 1.000 times faster”. Well, nowadays you could add three zeros more. This is the quantitative aspect. Our multilingual research team contributes the qualitative analysis. Thus, we are able to give answers to the most diversified questions, for example: Where and in which way is my brand positioned in comparison to its competitors? How is my brand perceived and in what ways is this perception altered by my current marketing campaign? Or by the political or social climate? – I am speaking of recent events, which have an external cause. Other particular problems are, for example, which level of customer satisfaction I have achieved and how I can improve the products or processes within my company by providing information. These are questions which concern every business company, while we give answers based on real data in real-time. At ethority, many time wasters are simply omitted. We do not have selection processes lasting for weeks, until we have accumulated a hundred participants for a survey. And, what is more, there is no need to let them argue in groups over weeks and weeks. We fish thousands of their opinions out of the web and evaluate the data. This is the foundation for our manner of market research, which is genuine and fast.
All this sounds so wonderfully easy. But it cannot be all that simple? How does a typical project with ethority take course?
Sten Franke:
Well, at first I have to say: the easiest things are often the best. But it is not as if you only need a smart monitoring technology and receive a great market analysis on demand. Ethority’s true capital is the know-how of our team of analysts concerning sectors, which was built up within almost 10 years. We were able to gain extensive project experience in all pivotal sectors. Because of our analysts being multilingual, we are capable of obtaining data from every market in the world in no time and with rather little effort. But before we settle down to work, we define the types of tasks with our clients in a briefing process. This concerns analyses of brand positioning, image quality, segmentation reports, issues and customer satisfaction as well as campaign tracking. Thus, we pose the questions which need answering. Subsequently, we analyse the semantic details in a pre-study, that is, the keywords in all combinations possible as well as the channels etc. With the help of this vocabulary of concepts, our gridmaster software, statistic probabilities, Bayesian-Belief-Netoworks and FuzzyLogic, webmonitoring debuggers are developed which we call bots. In a manner of speaking, these bots continue to refine themselves, in such a way as to analyse, segment and categorise only opinions within specific target groups. The categorised data is veryfied by our research team and post-coded in case of doubt. This is the foundation for the answering of quantitative questions. Moreover, we are able to pose further questions by including the database output at hand. These issues can be tracked down by the use of additional semantic filters. During the qualitative analysis, the obtained results in the form of blog entries or online community comments are evaluated and processed by interpreting the procured opinions. However, our job is far from ending here. We do not just compile data, we can do more and we do want more.
This takes us to the matter of your segment studies and your brand monitor. In which way are they relevant? Or are they mere instruments of acquisition?
Sten Franke:
No, it is certainly more than just that. These studies are first and foremost examples for our course of action, because the issue of webmonitoring is quite unknown to many people. In this process, we try to demonstrate what is possible. In the US you use the nice word “buzz” for any kind of spontaneous statement, which we adopted at once for our brand monitor 2.0, namely bobi, which stands for brand online buzz index. bobi is an enduring omnibus survey, which pinpoints where, how, with which level of intensity and in which topical context brands are discussed on web 2.0. Consequently, bobi is the first online brand monitor which evaluates consumer opinions on the web regarding to brand image, brand publicity, brand ranking as well as the major topics, all devided by sector and target group in monthly cycles. Based on predetermined criteria, our clients receive their own evaluated brand buzz in the course of this omnibus survey. Then you are able to compare results of the total market and identify trends favoured by the target group. Furthermore, it can be found out what your competitors are doing and how this is perceived by the consumers. You learn what makes the sectors tick. As I said before, you will get an impression of our course of action by our surveys. But, of course, this varies from client to client. The reportings all look extremely different; this implies, for example, web interface and database including visual data preparation and trend charts as well as excel files and complex management reports. Our clients often ask for strategy recommendation and, therefore, we jointly work out possibilities for an implementation. In order to do this, we also visit the respective company and work on location.
What will come after web 2.0? Will the changes continue? In which direction does ethority want to go?
Sten Franke:
We are prepared for web 3.0, you just wait… No, seriously, our task is clearly formulated: to establish our methods as an add-on, an alternative to the conventional market research. Many corporate groups are, although they describe themselves as being innovative, a bit deadlocked concerning market research. They initiate their focus groups at their favoured institute and that’s it. But we are able to convince even these creatures of habit more and more, initially for a pilot project. Consequently, they realize that we detect trends of the market much quicker and more accurate than others. For the benefit of convincing we want to expand our bobi. Soon it will be possible to use it internationally in four languages. We are developing new trend-scouting tools and intend to engage more in public matters than we did before.
February 26th, 2008 by Nils Maier
A survey conducted by IBM concludes that the advertising industry will change decisively during the next 3 years. The international study The End of Advertising as We Know It by IBM questioned marketers and consumers worldwide about their future expectations in the field of marketing. The respondents believe that the classic print and TV advertising will become less important in the future. In contrast, interactive advertising formats will increasingly gain ground among marketing decision makers. Bill Battino (Managing Partner at the Communications Sector of IMB Global Business Services) assumes that digital entertainment is going to enter our everyday life much more quickly than it was initially expected. On the basis of this development, Battino concludes that a compulsory modification of the companies` marketing strategies is necessary. The IBM expert’s recommended course of action is an interactive dialogue, which the marketers need to conduct with the clients. Surely, this is a clear reference to the commitment in Word of Mouth Marketing, which we have been propagating for a considerable amount of time. After all, the study conducted by IBM predicts a noticable increase of budget for the sector of Mobile and Online Advertising. At this, the annual growth rate of online marketing is said to be distinctively situated in double figures. According to the survey, the US once again represent the precursor. In the US, the classic TV commercial appears to push itself into a no-mans-land, whereas the use of digital video recorders is already fairly widespread. These DVR enable the consumer to enjoy time-delayed television without commercials. Consequently, classic advertising formats like TV advertising become less important. The results of this study also echoes the tenor of this year’s Online Marketing Fair in Düsseldorf. The issue of Online Marketing has long ceased to be a marginal phenomenon. On the contrary, it will soon become a vital element of a well-balanced marketing mix.
February 26th, 2008 by Nils Maier
The most recent survey concerning the issue of automobiles on Web 2.0: Cars Online 07/08, which was conducted by the management consultancy Capgemeni, underlines the results of ethority’s forerunner survey. Already at the beginning of 2007, ethority was able to expose trends on Web 2.0, which were also established by Capgemini’s market survey. At this, the subject matter for investigation was the consumer behaviour regarding the issue of automobile on the Web. The fact that the users’ focus was directed towards green issues in the field of automobiles was especially noticeable. Here, it was particularly interesting for the users to learn more about petrol-saving cars and alternative automobile engines on the web. Moreover, the market researchers of Capgemeni were able to demonstrate that the tools of Web 2.0, such as online communities concerning the issue of automobiles, are becoming more popular among the users. Within the statistic investigation on Web 2.0, these tools constituted the main unit of ethority’s survey concerning the field of automobiles. ethority analyzed 23.289 user comments in weblogs and online communities of the consumer generated web, surveying comments which originated from 10 selected online communities. Two criteria of relevance constituted the basis of the investigation. The first selection criterion was the minimum occurrence of sector or topic specific terms in online communities, while the second criterion referred to the posting frequency of the individual members in their respective community. The higher this specific posting frequency, the higher was the online community’s relevance for ethority’s survey. The content analysis was carried out by the most efficient evaluation software for webmonitoring: gridmaster. Applying a qualitative analysis, the data calculated by this means was post-processed by the ethority research team according to code book. The investigation followed one basic principle: which topics are discussed on Web 2.0 in which ways and with which tendencies. The primary result of this analysis was an extensive image of consumer opinions and of the consequential demand placed on the market researchers of the automobile industry. As the analyses conducted by ethority and Capgemini have clearly shown, the car manufacturers should focus their market research to a higher degree on the given factors of the novel C2C tools, such as online communities.
>> ethority automobile survey
February 26th, 2008 by admin
In an extensive survey conducted by the trend and opinion research institue ethority GmbH & Co. KG concerning the field of automobile in consumer generated media, the most important issues as well as upcoming trends and customer needs were identified. The survey is concerned with comments in online communitites and weblogs which are received by a large audience and, therefore, have quite an influential opinion forming effect. Product-related topics, e.g. road performance, value for money, technological details but also certain aspects like experience made with service and garages were discussed. The fields of alternative modes of drive and buying a car abroad the EU proved to hold a high density of discussions.
Only by knowing the consumers’ needs you are able to be responsive to them and adjust the development as well as the marketing arrangements respectively. On the so-called web 2.0 (online communitites, weblogs and opinion portals), consumers unrequestedly and authentically give statements about their experiences made with brands and products and, moreover, give advice to prospects who increasingly loose their confidence in traditional advertising and also feel poorly advised by the specialized trade.
The trend and opinion research institute ethority located in Hamburg specializes in the copious survey and evaluation of opinions and issues on web 2.0. In order to do this, the globally leading gridpatrol© technology is utilized and, subsequently, the data is qualitatively evaluated by a multilingual team of analysts.
Thus, profound results can be generated and, by being aware of them, companies can attain a decisive competitive advantage.
Parameters of the automobile survey
In the course of the automobile survey, 23.298 online community comments were documented from March to May 2007. These comments originated from the ten most relevant online communities and a quantity of 1.262 comments was included in the survey to be taken as a sample. Additionally, postings in several weblogs were evaluated.
The issues in weblogs were mainly concerned with alternative modes of drive (21%), fuel consumption (20%) and dealers (16%). In online communities, the most discussed topics were garages (25%), dealers (24%) and fuel consumption (19%).
Predominant contents of individual issues
Within the individual subject areas, the following aspects were of great importance:
• Garage: Exchange of experiences made with manufacturer-specific garages (including the indication of address)
• Dealer: Exchange of experiences concerning the service and competence of individual dealers
• Alternative modes of drive: Discussion about advantages and disadvantages of hybrid engines and about the question, in how far the automobile industry, petroleum industry and politics are concerned with this development
• Fuel consumption: Reports based on experience refer to fuel consumption as well as good advice for fuel saving, discussion of alternative fuels and, furthermore, questions and reports on the density of the petrol station network and the different opportunities of refitting a vehicle
• Safety: Discussion about the signification, value and reliability of electronic assistance systems
Identified trend topics
The following issues show an increased density of mentionings and discussions
• Alternative modes of drive:
• Significant increase in the interest in alternative modes of drive in consumer generated online media
• Concerns with regard to the coverage ability of the petrol station network for alternative fuels
• Spirited discussions about hybrid engines
Within the next years, the awareness of this trend can be a decisive advantage for companies in competition on the German market.
• Purchasing a car abroad the EU:
• Frequently asked question of whether buying a car abroad the EU would be more favourably priced
• Consideration of advantages and disadvantages
• Significant increase in the readiness of purchasing a car abroad
Advantages concerning sales for companies planning to pursue a consistent and transparent pricing policy on the European level.
